Torn Silver
by Kitada
Summary: When Akito inspires suicidal behaviour in a dear friend, Hatori and Ayame know things have gone too far. Rating may rise in future chapters.
1. Torn

A golden splash of sunlight hits Hatori Sohma's one good eye as he exits the main house disdainfully, looking tired and weary as always. He shields his eyes with one arm and begins to walk back to his house.

The autumn leaves have fallen thick on the ground, and are crunching merrily under Hatori's feet. A light breeze teases his ebony bangs away from his forehead as he sweeps his gaze to the white sky.

"Perhaps it will be snowing soon." a feather-light voice comments from behind him. Hatori turns around to see a familiar, ivory-skinned face.

"Aaya." Hatori greets his best friend. "What are you up to?" It takes him a while to notice that Ayame Sohma is wearing a long hooded cloak, covering his hair. "Why are you wearing that?"

"What, this?" Ayame looks down at his cloak. "Oh, just thought I'd take a trip back to the middle ages, is all."

Hatori isn't convinced. "Is there something wrong with your hair? Tell me if something happened."

Ayame sighs and takes Hatori's hand, leading him outside the gates and sitting him in the grass across the street. Hatori patiently gazes up at him, waiting for an elaboration.

The snake sighs again and sits down beside the dragon. "Yesterday I spoke with Shigure-kun."

Hatori's gaze remains fixed on his friend, waiting for more. More is what he recieves.

"He told me that... oh, Ha'ri I don't know if I should..."

"You may as well." the dragon comments. "I'll hear about it anyway, whatever it is."

Ayame's eyes quiver, like he's about to cry. "Shigure-kun says that the day before yesterday, he went to the main house and confessed his love to Akito-sama."

Hatori's eyes widen as much as they can. Dull sirens go off in the distance. Ayame goes on.

"He told me that Akito-sama was furious, and that he told him... terrible, terrible things, and now Shigure-kun talks about killing himself! As if he'll actually do it!"

Hatori stands abruptly. It's getting dark. "Where is he now?"

"He's shut himself in his study at home. Oh, Haa-san, I'm really worried... I went to the main house just now to speak to Akito about what happened, and..."

Hatori stops and turns back. "And what?"

The snake reaches up and pulls the hood from his head. Hatori expects the shining silver waterfall to fall from it, but the very opposite happens.

Ayame's hair has been cut crudely, roughly past the nape of his neck, in such jagged, rough slashes that you can hardly tell it has ever been long at all. Paired with this is such a stricken and wretched expression that it almost brings tears to the dragon's eyes.

"Akito..." he begins.

"He cut it." Ayame sobbs. "Chopped it all off. But he made sure to rip half of it out first." Thick, shining tears spill down the snake's flawless face. "Hatsuharu was there. Akito-sama used his pocket knife." Ayame falls forward into Hatori's arms, where he is gracefully accepted. The two Sohmas sink to the ground, where the snake sobs so violently, the dragon's heart breaks, and Hatori knows it wasn't just about Ayame's hair. It was also about the concept of both of them losing Shigure to Akito's madness. Yet another loved one, killed by the wrath of the god.


	2. Broken

Ayame's eyes open to dull autumn sunlight streaming through the window of Hatori's house. That distinct, clean, docter-ish smell drifts through the air. The snake sits up and cringes at the pain in his shoulders. Oh, drat. he'd cried himself to sleep.

_How embarrassing._

He gets up slowly and ventures into the kitchen, where he sees a note pinned to the door.

_Ayame-_

_I've gone to see Shigure again. I'll be back by six._

_-Hatori._

Six? The snake's mind reels. Shigure must be worse than he thought. Ayame ignores the breakfast his friend had left out for him and sits mournfully on the floor in his study.

_What will I do? I can't think about this... oh, how strange it feels to have such short hair. How can Hatori and the others stand it? It's no use... I'm going to cry again.. _

He keels forward and collapses to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

_Things will change... Perhaps I myself will even change... Hatori will be even more sad, and Shigure..._

A tear slides down Ayame's cheek.

The snake, usually so proud and beautiful, is reduced to a mere stone in the desert, being stepped upon and kicked when it's down, thinking it had no life.

_For even I thought that Akito wouldn't stretch his madness out to reach me, but..._

He touches a strand of choppy silver and grimaces, hoping that Hatori will return soon.

_I'm dying... or maybe I'm already dead. One thing is certain, though..._

_I've changed._

_In the span of one night, I've so drastically changed..._


	3. Burned

Hatori returns much later, as it is getting dark out. He unlocks the door and is greeted with pitch black. Looming shadows threaten to swallow the doctor as he progresses forward to turn on a light.

"Aaya?" he calls, to no answer. All the curtains are drawn, and all the doors to every room are locked. The whole house gives off an aura of terror, alarm, and someone deprate to escape. Hatori begins to panic.

Finally, he finds a note in Ayame's loopy cursive. _Gone out. Be back soon. Love, Aaya._

Hatori rolls his eyes and wonders where the snake might have gone.

In a flash, the dragon is back outside, walking in a rush towards the costume shop, and, just as Ayame has predicted, it has begun to snow.

Meanwhile, the snake is inside the shop in the dark, looking over everything he designed. An orange glow illuminates all the lace, velvet, chenille. His life's work. His eyes burned as he tossed each of them into the huge fire that flickered and flared in the large wastebasket in the center of the room.

_to be continued._


	4. Scorned

The dragon bursts through the door, rushing to the snake and tearing the unburned clothing from his shaking hands.

"What are you doing, Aaya?" he demands, as the sound of breaking glass fills the air and he brings fourth the fire extinguisher.

Ayame falls to the floor, where the waxed floorboards have begun to melt. He cringes as the hot wax scorns his skin, but presses to it all the same. Hatori extinguishes the flames and lifts Ayame into his arms, taking him out to the street outside. He whips his cell phone out and dials the fire department.

Meanwhile, Aaya stares straight ahead, eyes wide, saying nothing. Hatori hangs up and sits beside him, concerned.

"Why... why would you do that, Aaya?" he asks gently. More hot tears fall from the snake's eyes.

"I... am worthless. That's what Akito told me... worthless... stop creating my foolish costumes, he said. Spend all your time thinking about every wasted minute of your life, he said. He told me to burn them. Burn them all..." his voice horribly breaks, and so does the dragon's heart.

"When was this?"

"L-last night... while you were gone..."

"Then it was a dream."

Ayame shakes his head. "It couldn't have been... I heard him screaming... I felt him strike me..."

Hatori, being very out of character, pulls his best friend into his arms.

"Tell me, Ha'ri... what really happened to Shigure?"

Hatori's eyes brim with tears and he tries to hold them back. "Dead. Suicide."

Ayame ommits a gut-wrenching chorus of sobs. Hatori embraces him tighter.

"Letter opener to the wrists..." he sayd numbly.

"Why? Why? WHY?" the snake wretchedly shrieks. "_Why?_"

"I... I don't know why." Hatori says, stroking what was left of Ayame's silver hair. "But I will tell you one thing. Akito has gone too far."


	5. Darkened

Several days later, Ayame is again sitting on the floor of Hatori's apartment, but this time for a different reason. They were waiting for Tohru, Kyo and Yuki to arrive.

"What are we going to do, Haa-san...?" Aaya asked timidly.

Hatori numbly looked down at the floorboards. "I never thought this day would come. I was never this consumed by rage before. When Kana's memories were erased, I could take it, but now..." the dragon heaved a sigh. "Akito has gone too far. We must stop him before this gets more out of control than it already is."

Ayame nodded. "That would be best... but Akito-sama is god. Gods cannot die."

Hatori shook his head, startling the snake. "Quite the contrary." The doctor brought fourth from his pocket a small, leather-bound book, with the monogram SS on the cover. "Thankfully, most writers keep journals."

Aaya's eyes widened. "That's... Shigure-nii's journal, isn't it? What does it say about Akito?"

Hatori nonchalantly flipped through the pages. "It says that the god of the Zodiac... was born only to die."

Aaya raised his eyebrows. "Die? Then it is us who will kill him?"

Hatori nodded. "It has to be."

Suddenly, Yuki's voice came from the doorway. "This has gone far enough."

The three high school students stood in the doorway, Yuki and Kyo looking angry, and Tohru looking frightened.

"Just tell us what we need to do," she said, her voice shaking.


	6. Erased

WARNING: a teeny tiny hint of Aaya/Hari in this chappie.

Ayame couldn't sleep that night. He was haunted internally by his dead best friend's voice. Fnally, sleep overcame the snake. But within his dream, Shigure spoke to him.

"Aaya..." the deceased dog whispered. "What will this accomplish? You can't fight death with death."

The dreamer's eyes welled up with tears. "But... he killed you!"

The apparition shook it's head. "I killed myself. I wasn't strong enough to stay alive under Akito's words."

Ayame violently shook his head. "No... no. NO!!!!"

And just like that, he was awake, with Hatori at his side.

"Another dream?" the doctor asked.

Ayame nodded feverously.

Hatori sighed. "Do you want some sleeping pills?"

"No, I'm fine..."

The dragon glanced out the window, deep in thought. The moon was at a thin crescent, halfway hidden beneath the frail branches of the trees. Cold air was blowing through the halfway-opened window, and the world seemed to be at a standstill.

"Ha'ri..." Ayame whispered, bringing him back to Earth. "We can't kill Akito."

Hatori looked mildly surprised. Ayame elaborated.

"We can't fight death with death..."

Hatori's look of surprise faded into that of meek understanding.

"..but only with life. So what are we going to do?"

Hatori stared at the floorboards below his feet, pondering that question.

"We need someone that Akito would never expect to rebel. Someone who he thinks we trust."

"Tohru?"

"Perhaps. That's for tomorrow, though. Get some rest before then..."

Ayame gave a small, sad smile and lay back down again, closing his eyes.

As soon as the snake was alseep, Hatori swept back the silver bangs and gently kissed his dearest friend's forehead.

"I don't know what to do anymore..." he breathed, tears burning into his eyes.


	7. Author's Note: HIATUS

Dearest friends...

I regret to say that I am putting this story on hiatus. I'm really more of a oneshot person myself, and I can't really commit to a story with many chapters.

I know, I know... I am now teh evil author and all that jazz. But... I just can't bring myself to finish this. I want to start anew, and this and some of my other stories bring back some pretty not-nice memories.

Please try to understand my reasons for quitting. If you read my work, I love you.

I'll delete this message, along with the rest of the story, within the day.


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